jennabet, yes it certainly is an interesting family. So much of the family history was kept in the dark and lost as the older relatives died. My nephew was left with a made up surname and no idea where in Italy his family came from. Slowly I am finding information for him thanks to help from friends like Saunj.If I could confirm that Frank Sibilia was born in Castelnuovo di Conza I would be extremely happy. I am preparing a letter to the church in that Comune which will include an international money order and I also will give them a broader possibility of surnames and birth years to check. Maybe it will give me the information I need.I am finding a lot of the family information on their lives in the United States and I feel good about that.

Thanks for the offer but I don't want to engage anyone to go to Castelnuovo di Conza because I am not one hundred percent sure the information is there in that Comune. The family only thinks that is the Comune he left to come to America because a brother-in-law is from CdiC. Also his birth year is based on his stated age at his marriage. He could have given a false age for some reason. He was a shifty fellow who left his wife and 6 children.Even asking Civil Registration to look it up is taking a chance. If they tell me they didn't find a record then I don't know if there is no record or he was born in a year that they didn't research.

My grandfather, Angelo Palmieri, was baptized at St. Lucy's Church in Newark, New Jersey on July 14, 1911. His Godparents were Alfonso Sibilia and Michelina Iorlano. Angelo Palmieri's parents were Guiseppe Maria Palmieri (from Lioni, Italy) and Alfonsino (Frances) Buonocore (from Caposele, Italy); they lived at 28 Boyden Street in Newark.

I believe the parents of Alfonso Sibilia were Guglielmo Sibilia and Giovanna Palmieri (may be related to Angelo Palmieri). Alfonso Sibilia was also baptized at St. Lucy's Church on April 29, 1895. Alfonso Sibilia's sister, Filomena Rosa Maria Sibilia, was also baptized at St. Lucy's Church on August 29, 1897.

I'm unable to upload the Baptism Registry for Angelo Palmieri; but will share this and any other information. My e-mail address is cmatyckas@yahoo.com

Caren, Thanks very much for the information however my connection to Sibilia proved wrong. I was researching a man named Frank/Francesco but the surname was uncertain. The marriage record for him showed Frank Siballo. That name goes nowhere. To add to the problem after he had 6 children he left his wife and never returned. In desperation I noticed his Mother's maiden surname was close to his Brother in law's surname. I tried to find a connection in Castelnuovo di Conza where the brother in law came from but received no answer to letters. Around that time I received a huge lift from a great researcher on this site, suanj. She did a lot of work and found the birth of Frank/Francesco's Father in Lioni, Avellino, Italy. An unusual situation, the mother kept her baby but would not name the father. The court gave the new infant the surname of Gratobene and allowed her to raise him. His son Frank/Francesco came to Ellis island under that name but I am guessing he tried to use his mother's name when he registered for his marriage. What make me think this happened is the mother's maiden name is Cavallo. The American marriage clerk must have mistaken what he heard and wrote Siballo. With suanj's help we were able to uncover a lot of records in Lioni on the family. Caren, I noticed one of the Godparents was shown as Michelina Ioriano. That looks very close to the name Soriano. You might check it out. Soriano is very popular in Lioni. Frank/Francesco Gratobene/Cavallo had a sister Rose who stated on her arrival at Ellis island that she was going to a cousin Soriano in Newark in her 1909 arrival. 1910 census she is shown as his sister. She later married a Calabrese. All were from Lioni.Thank you very much for you information. If I can be of help with something I might have in my data base I would be glad to pass it on to you. I kept a few Sibilia records.Jack

Here's some background on Dennis Piccirillo. Dennis is a volunteer at the Family History Center in Ledgewood, New Jersey. He orders the Avellino, Italy films from the FHC, translates the document in very basic Italian and posts minimal information on Ancestry.com. Dennis reviews all the Ancestry message boards in hopes of finding someone who will pay him (a nominal fee) to translate the remainder of their records. Dennis found me on Ancestry and corrected some of my information. In exchange for giving him some additional Italian genealogy websites, he sent me my information without any charge. He also invited me to New Jersey to meet; I think he uses Ancestry as a dating site, too! Dennis' information can be inaccurate; I've contacted him several times to correct his information about my family tree; but it continues to remain incorrect.

Jack, I've also used suanj for genealogy research. She is TERRIFIC; no one compares to her attention to detail, accuracy, and persistence. She's the best!

I have the film records for St. Lucy's Church at my FHC; the films are to be returned in mid-June. Send me your "wish list"; I'm happy to look up anyone for you. My mother grew up in Newark's North Ward; she and I are very familiar with St. Lucy's Church and the Newark area. Let me know if you need help with street locations, addresses, etc.

I have many Sorianos, as either godparents, marriage witnesses or US boarders, on my Palmieri side. However, I can't connect the two names yet. FYI - The Palmieri name changed frequently; some other spellings are Palmiero, Palmerio, or Palmero; this group also changes their first name and/or birth date at will.

Forgot to mention, my great grandfather, Guiseppe Maria Palmieri, born 06 SEPT 1871 in Lioni, marries Teresa Castellano, born on 18 DEC 1876, in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino, on 11 OCT 1898. Together they had two boys, each named Angelo and each dying in infancy.

Giuseppe abandons Teresa and emigrates to the United States between 1902-1904. Teresa never remarries, since divorce is not legalized in Italy until 1970. Teresa and her family move to Venosa, Italy; Teresa dies on 06 FEB 1942 in Venosa, Italy.

Giuseppe marries Alfonsina (Frances) Buonocore, at St. Lucy's Church on 15 JAN 1906. Together they have six children; one being my grandfather, Angelo.

Leaving your wife and never returning is also a common thread in my family tree.

20 Dec 1914 Romeo, Florence and Frances were Baptized in ST LUCY"S Chuch in Newark.They lived at 76 D'Auria ST, Newark.When Franceco married Katherine, Francesco was living at 181 8th Ave, NewarkKatherine was living at 107 7th AVe, Newark

the 181 8th Ave, Newark was the address of Angelo Soriano, brother in law (?) of Felice Fortunato Gratobene; in this ship's manifest of a Antonio Soriano from Lioni, well Antonio Soriano going to uncle Angelo Soriano in 181 8th Ave, Newarkhttp://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0006 suanj

In the 1940 US Census, my grandfather, Angelo Palmiero, my grandmother, Angelina Conger, my mother and my aunt lived at 200 Eighth Avenue (just down the street from 181). John Calabrese and his family also lived at 200 Eighth Avenue - right lived next door to the Palmieros. John Calabrese had two daughters, Angelina and Marie; Angelina married Pasquale Conger, my grandmother's brother. My mother and aunt are very familiar with Eighth Avenue and remember many of the residents; let me know if you have any questions for them.

In the 1910 US Census, my great grandfather, Joseph Palmieri, is living at 162 Eighth Avenue, with my great grandmother, Alfonsina (Frances) Buonocore; they've been married four years; and have two children (my great aunts); my grandfather, Angelo, is not born until 1911. Living with Joseph Palmieri and his family are two Italian boarders - Vincenzo Sarian (Soriano), born in 1890 and John Sarian (Soriano), born in 1894. Vincenzo arrived in the US in 1909; John in 1910.

I have not been able to connect these two gentlemen to my family tree yet; but I find it odd that someone married four years with two children (ages three and 10 months) would invite two young boarders to live with them - unless there's a relationship.

I purchased "Newark's Little Italy: The Vanished First Ward", by Michael Immerso on Amazon.com for my mother. The paperback traces the changes in the First Ward during the first 50 years of the 20th century and contains many pictures from the "old neighborhood". To this day, my mother still talks about those days; the book and pictures brought back even more memories.

Suanj and Caren,I have not received notifications of your posts after I replied on 21 May to Caren's post so I have some catching up to do and I will look over the information you posted and get back to you soon. In the mean time I am going to check my personal information and try and find out why I didn't get notices to your posts. The only way I knew that there were posts is by my coming on this site just to see what was going on.I will get back to you soon.

Hello. I'm searching for information on the Rugiero.Ruggiero and Conte families in Castelnuovo di Conza. I can't seem to find an address or web site that tells me who to write to in Italy for records. Thanks. Jimmy Rosamond.

I wrote a request for a record and never received a reply so several months later I sent another letter and never received a reply. It turned out that my friend suanj, a great researcher on this site, found him in Lioni. Therefore I had no other reason to write to them. Perhaps they didn't reply since they didn't find a record of him in CdiC.